__________________
"I was born to fish" Lee Wulff
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing then there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
" It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Your not old,you've simply acquired a patina." Swirlchaser

Can't imagine how I ended up hooking him in the eye. Northern pike will ram lures and sometimes get hooked somewhere on the head other than the mouth, but I've never known bass to do this. Only thing I can figure is that because I use barbless hooks, he might have shook it loose when it made its one and only jump and then somehow the hook caught it in the eye. Hard to believe a bass would sit still and allow a fly to slide across its head.

__________________
"I was born to fish" Lee Wulff
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing then there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
" It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Your not old,you've simply acquired a patina." Swirlchaser

It's common to snag fish in spawning mode, as they're just trying to move it away from the nest. It's that time for LM's and would explain seeing the larger fish. I'm not saying you were targeting nests, but you might consider whether you wish to do so or not and look a little more into their spawning cycle in your area. Many state's bass season is closed right now. Many stay open but specify C&R. I'm not being critical, just letting you know a possibility. I've spent a lot of time chasing them, I learned their habits to be succesful. That nice fly will end up in their jaws plenty, I'm sure.

We don't target LMB in beds and always catch and release them all year round. I also use barbless flies and prefer to fish in lakes and ponds that are regulated to be 100% catch and release. Good for the fish and fisherman.

Plenty of other fish to target in that lake. Just last week, I caught small walleye, perch and gills, in addition to the young (assume non-spawning) LMB. All fun on light-weight (4 wt) gear.

The bass in question hit in deeper weeds (5-10 foot water), so I suspect it was not on a bed. It's my assumption that the beds are all close to shore. Is that a good assumption?